what does "i" mean?

[Jesse Hollington]

It was marketing, plain and simple, with no specific meaning. I did once hear a presentation from somebody affiliated with Apple's advertising and marketing side indicate that the "i" prefix was intended to combine both a futuristic sense as well as a feeling of personal identification with technology -- the "i" was generally applied to Apple's consumer-focused products (iMac, iBook, iPod) while the more professional products were left with monikers such as "PowerMac" and "PowerBook." Remember that this came about in an era when most average people didn't feel nearly as comfortable with computers and gadgets as they do now, and traditional Windows PCs were either business tools or necessary evils at home.

[S2_Mac]

Close...the "pod" part comes from Arthur C. Clarke, roundaboutly. Vinnie Chieco, one of the creatives brought in to help give the new product an identity (or should that be "an iDentity"? ;-) found the player's appearance and its relationship to a syncing computer to be reminiscent of the EVA pods aboard the Discovery One spaceship from 2001: A Space Odyssey. To stress the "personal" nature of the device (and p'bly to avoid the wordplay invited by the "PMP" classification used at the time <g>), he prepended the "i" -- voila, the iPod.

[McCloud11]

Originally Posted by Bob

The i prefix is believed to mean internet - as the iMac was intended to be a straight out of the box, a couple of plugs and you're surfing, type of computer that is what it meant in iMac - guess it just continued as products and manufacturers latched on...

Of course I am willing to be corrected

Hey they iPad was thought up in 1998 and it was to surf the web! the just like the i in all there things they put it in ipod so now i get it internetpad wow my ipad is an internetpad!

[maxi950]

When it first appeared I guessed it meant 'idiot' or 'idiot proof'

[davemiller]

The i is just Apple's thing. They do it to brand their products.

[PongChamp]

At first I thought the "i" meant internet, I think it is more for branding their products.

[Seelyon]

I never actually thought about what it meant, but now I know!

[nieltab]

I think it refers to I as 'myself'. Its a marketing trick to make people feel comfortable with the names of apple their devices.

I think it sound cool: iphone, ipad, ipod, imac. Its simple and clean, instead of 'device Z454A super' or something like that.

[kornchild2002]

Years later and the i still only means one thing: absolutely nothing. It's a marketing ploy that doesn't have any depth. It doesn't mean internet, I, or myself. Apple started that back in the day with the iBook, different from the PowerBook as it was a more standard consumer friendly device in terms of price. Then they came out with the iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc. It's just something they have put on their more consumer friendly products and migrated over to other devices. It's nothing more than a marketing term.

[Justin2013]

I thought it means intelligent. LOL. Anyhow, anyone can create a meaning for it, though only Apple knew what really it means.

[ChuckDee]

i dunt no



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